May is Bladder Cancer Awareness Month
join with the aacr to find better ways to prevent and treat bladder cancer
Bladder cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer in the United States. In 2025, approximately 84,870 people will receive a diagnosis of bladder cancer, and some 17,420 people are expected to die from it, according to estimates by the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Bladder cancer is most likely to affect white men. In fact, the incidence rate of bladder cancer is four times higher among men than among women. It is also about twice as high in white males compared with Black, Hispanic, or Asian/Pacific Islander men.
The NCI explains that there are four major types of bladder cancer. The name of each type of cancer indicates the kind of cells that become malignant.
- Transitional cell carcinoma, which is also called urothelial carcinoma and is the most common form of bladder cancer, begins in the urothelial cells that line the bladder and urinary tract.
- Squamous cell carcinoma begins in the squamous cells. This type may form after long-term infection or irritation.
- Adenocarcinoma begins in glandular (secretory) cells in the lining of the bladder.
- Small cell carcinoma of the bladder begins in neuroendocrine cells.
Bladder cancer is also described as non-muscle invasive or muscle-invasive depending on if the cancer has spread into the muscle wall of the bladder or beyond it.
Risk factors for bladder cancer include tobacco use, having a family history of the disease, and exposure to certain chemicals in the workplace. Other risk factors include drinking water with high levels of arsenic or chlorine and having a a bladder infection caused by a parasite called Schistosoma haematobium, according to the NCI.
Approximately 79% of people diagnosed with bladder cancer survived five years or more after diagnosis between 2015 and 2021, according to federal estimates.
One Patient’s Story
When Lesa Kirkman’s bladder cancer eventually failed to respond to treatment, she turned to a clinical trial of a new gene therapy. She was able to stop treatment after three years and has had no recurrences. Read her story in the AACR Cancer Progress Report.
More on Bladder Cancer
If cancer invades the muscles of the bladder, doctors will usually treat it with chemotherapy to shrink the tumor, followed by surgery to remove the bladder. However, a recent clinical trial found that adding immunotherapy to chemotherapy may allow certain patients to avoid surgery. Read more in AACR’s magazine Cancer Today.
The most common treatment for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer is Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), a vaccine that was originally developed to prevent tuberculosis. But not all tumors respond to this treatment, and some that do eventually develop resistance. Recently, researchers have made strides in expanding the treatment landscape for patients with BCG-resistant bladder cancer. Learn more on Cancer Research Catalyst, the official AACR blog.
what the aacr is doing in bladder cancer research
The AACR held a “Special Conference on Bladder Cancer: Transforming the Field,” May 17-20, 2024, in Charlotte, North Carolina. This meeting brought together the world’s leading experts to address core biological principles, disease models, and clinical aspects of bladder cancer, among other topics.
for more information
See our page on bladder cancer. This includes information on the different types of bladder cancer, as well as screening and treatment.
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